2. Oculus

Oculus Trailer

Mike Flanagan has become a cult favorite for his take on the supernatural suspense genre. He co-wrote and directed Oculus as a kind of evolution of a 2005 short Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with a Plan. In the 2013 version, Kaylie (Karen Gillan) conducts the revenge plan originally executed by brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites). In the past, Kaylie and Tim’s family was torn apart by murder. In the present, Kaylie is determined to prove everything was caused by an antique mirror controlled by evil forces. Doing so would help exonerate Tim, recently released from a mental health facility after being held responsible for killing their father. Following through with Kaylie’s elaborate plan to prove her theory and destroy the mirror, we watch past blur with present, and reality mix with falsified or imagined experiences. At times it is like experiencing two timelines simultaneously, as present-day protagonists encounter – and are oblivious to – their past selves.

The timeline and blurred reality put into question the sanity of the characters. The entire nature of Perception is put under scrutiny. The mind’s breakdown is showcased in a way reminiscent of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The more the past is explained, the more the present is overtaken by creepy spirits. However well the film works for what it is, the actual reason the mirror is haunted is never elaborated. The root of the evil is not explained. Perhaps the truth shifts depending who is looking at it, and that’s why the loose ends don’t feel like loose ends. The strength of the plot is the brother-sister connection, and the frantic need to put a stop to the mirror’s murderous streak at all costs.

As with The Conjuring, Oculus focuses on grotesque beings ‘out to get’ an innocent family. In both cases, extreme measures are needed to free the family’s home and objects within it, in hopes of saving what’s left of the unit’s humanity.